User JavaScript changes for Acrobat or Reader 10.1.1

Enterprise admins who manage machines engaged in workflows that use persistent global variables (Windows and Macintosh) or custom JavaScripts (Windows only).

Overview

Due to Adobe’s high interest in security, changes to existing Acrobat and Adobe Reader functionality are periodically released to further strengthen the product’s resistance to malicious attacks. As part of this effort, 10.1.1 introduces changes to the JavaScript feature that stores global variables and executes user-defined scripts.

Prior to 10.1.1, end users could place JavaScript files in %ApplicationData%\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\JavaScripts, and these files would execute automatically on application startup. For example, IT might place a JS file for modifying the product user interface by hiding or adding menu items on an Windows XP machine in C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0\JavaScripts. Additionally, the folder contains glob.js and glob.settings.js, two files which the product can read and write to when storing global variables.

Changes for 10.1.1

By design, Acrobat processes do not write to the %ApplicationData%\ Acrobat\Privileged\10.0 folder. Additionally, sandboxed processes are specifically prohibited from writing to that folder. Thus, the most secure operation involves enabling Protected View in Acrobat and Protected Mode in Reader and thereby sandboxing all processes. Additionally, 10.1.1 introduces the following changes:

• New user JS location: The user JavaScript folder is moved from
  • Vista and Windows 7:Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0\JavaScripts to Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\Privileged\10.0\JavaScripts. For example, the new path might be C:\Users\JoeUser\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\Privileged\10.0\JavaScripts
  • XP: Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0\JavaScripts to Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\Privileged\10.0\JavaScripts. For example, the new path might be: C:\Documents and Settings\JoeUser\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\Privileged\10.0\JavaScripts

Note: This is a Windows-only change. Also, the change does not impact the behavior of C:\Program Files\Adobe\(product name and version)\(product name)\JavaScripts.

• New format and location for persistent global variables: Variable settings stored in glob.settings.js and glob.js now reside in a new directory at %ApplicationData%\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0\JSCache. The key value pairs read from the ASCab are used to initialize the persistent global variables. No settings are saved as JavaScript files in this directory.

What you should do

If you have not stored variables as persistent global variables or placed custom JavaScripts in the affected directories, then you can ignore this change. However, if you have done either, maintain the integrity of your workflows by doing the following:

For global variable issues (Windows and Macintosh)

• Verify glob.js and glob.settings.js do not store anything other than key value pairs and scalar values. Workflows that use these files to store other methods will break.
• Since any data residing in glob.js and glob.setting.js at the time of applying 10.1.1 will be lost, maintain the integrity of your workflows by doing the following:

1. For Acrobat, you can either:

• Copy the JavaScript in the existing glob.js and glob.setting.js files from the old JavaScripts folder and execute it in the JavaScript console in a new Acrobat session. This will export the stored global variables to the new Acrobat session. Or,
• Copy glob.js and glob.setting.js from the old JavaScripts folder to the %Program Files%/Adobe/Reader/JavaScript folder and then delete the original files. Restart the product to export the variables to the new format.

Note: For Adobe Reader, you can only use the latter method since the JavaScript console is not available unless you have enabled it as described at http://blogs.adobe.com/pdfdevjunkie/2008/10/how_to_use_the_javascript_debu.html.

2. Manually execute the JavaScript setPersistent method on all global variables to ensure they are correctly migrated to the new format. For example, run the following JavaScript in the console:

For user JavaScript issues (Windows only)

Copy all user-created JavaScript files from %APPDATA%\Adobe\Acrobat\10.0\JavaScripts to %APPDATA%\Adobe\Acrobat\Privileged\10.0\JavaScripts.